Several multiquantum wells of InP/GaxIn1−xAsyP1−y grown by chemical‐beam epitaxy have been studied by high‐resolution x‐ray diffraction, low‐temperature photoluminescence, and Raman scattering to characterize interfacial layers between the barriers and the wells. These interfacial layers are created during the initial stage of growth of the quaternary material as a result of the longer transient for the saturation of the group‐III elements flux. The combination of x‐ray diffraction and photoluminescence allows a precise determination of the interfacial layer thickness and composition grading and shows that interface roughness is of the order of 1 monolayer. Raman scattering confirms these results and is used to determine values of the sound velocity and of the index of refraction in the quaternary alloy material.

Publication date

1996-10-01

Language

English

Affiliation

National Research Council Canada; NRC Institute for Microstructural Sciences